Tarte Tropezienne

Tarte tropézienne, also known as “La Tarte de Saint-Tropez”, is a famous french dessert pastry. It was created in 1955 by Polish confectioner Alexandre Micka, a pâtisserie owner in Saint-Tropez, where he moved just after the war. Micka adapted his grandmother’s recipe to create the first version of tarte tropézienne in 1952. A few years later, actress Brigitte Bardot discovered a love of pastries while filming “And God Created Woman” in Saint-Tropez. It was, in fact, named after her and popularised after she “discovered” it. Micka officially registered the trademark. (the source: Wikipedia).

The Tarte Tropezienne is a halved brioche pastry filled with creme patisserie and buttercream (or a mixture with whipped cream) and topped with pearl sugar. I prepared the Tarte Tropezienne in an individual mini version. You can also find this version in the original French patisserie. It tastes lovely and unique; the combination of cream with delicate brioche, pearl sugar and syrup will delight you.

Note: You can prepare the cream the day before. The finished cream (just before adding the whipped cream) can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Recipe for one large Tarte Tropezienne or 10 mini ones.

Ingredients for brioche dough:

• 300 g plain flour
• 3 large eggs
• 30 g sugar
• 30 ml milk
• 4 g dry yeast
• 1 Tbsp orange blossom water or vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt
• 115 g butter

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

In the bowl of the mixer, add the flour mixed with dry yeast, then add eggs, milk, orange blossom water, salt and sugar. Knead at low speed for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth, stretchy and elastic. Start adding the butter gradually, still kneading, until it is thoroughly combined.

Place the brioche dough in the bowl, cover with foil and let it rise almost it grows 1/3 of its volume (about 2 – 4 hours). Place in the fridge until the next day.

The next day, remove the brioche dough from the refrigerator and, working with cold dough, shape it into a circle with a diameter of 24 cm (or shape 10 small mini brioches). Line a baking tray with baking paper and transfer the dough onto it. Sprinkle lightly with flour, then cover with foil and move to a warm place until it doubles in volume (about 3 hours).

After this time, brush one large brioche (or 10 mini ones) with beaten egg and sprinkle with pearl sugar (from the ingredients listed below). Bake the brioche at 180°C for about 18 – 25 minutes or until golden brown (the brioche buns a little shorter). Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

Ingredients for the cream:

• 360 ml milk
• 4 yolks, from large eggs
• 65 g sugar
• 35 g potato starch
• 1 tablespoon of orange blossom water or vanilla extract
• 85 g butter, cut into cubes
• 60 ml whipping cream, chilled

All ingredients, except the whipping cream, should be at room temperature.

In a mixer bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks. Add potato starch to the egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, bring the milk to the boil. Remove from heat and add slowly 150 ml to the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Then, pour the egg mixture back into a saucepan with the rest of the milk and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. When it boils, whisk the mixture for another 1 minute until it becomes thick. Add the orange blossom water, then butter, a couple of pieces at a time, whisking to incorporate. Take off the heat, transfer into a bowl and immediately cover the surface with a foil to prevent a crust from forming. Cool to room temperature.

If not using immediately, refrigerate until needed, up to 3 days.

Just before assembling the cake, whip the whipping cream until it holds its shape. Remove the pastry cream from the refrigerator and whisk to loosen it. Stir the whipped cream into the pastry cream with a flexible spatula.

Ingredients for the syrup:

• 75 ml of water
• 75 g of sugar
• 1 tsp of orange flower water or vanilla extract

In a saucepan, pour the water with the sugar and orange blossom water/vanilla extract. Place at medium heat. Once it boils, leave it for 1 minute and remove it from the hob. Let it cool completely.

Additionally:

• 1 egg, beaten, for the glaze
• pearl sugar, for sprinkling
• icing sugar, for dusting

Cut the brioche (or small buns) in half lengthwise. Using a pastry brush, soak both parts of the cake (or the buns) with syrup. Fill a pastry bag with a smooth or decorative tip with cream and squeeze it onto the lower part of the brioche, then cover it with the top part. To finish, sprinkle with powdered sugar, cut and serve.

Enjoy!

The source of the – bake-street.com, with my modifications.